Book to visit BBFC archives

Our historic archive holds records detailing classification decisions made since 1 January 1913. This includes over 60,000 files for films dating from around the late 1950s onwards (with some dating back to the late 1940s). Earlier classification decisions are noted in large bound books called film registers.

We are happy for any files or other archive material, where available, to be used for research purposes, as long as the documentation in question is over twenty years old.

To view any of our archive records, please contact us using the form below.

Please include a list of the film titles you would like to research, along with their release dates and describe the research being undertaken or the reasons for your enquiry. We will check the availability of each file and contact you to arrange an appointment for you to view the records at our offices.

You can make notes while researching the files, but we do not permit the copying or digital reproduction of the content of the files. No file may be removed from our building.

Generally, this service is free. However, if we have to recall files from our external archive we charge £25.00 to meet our own costs.

To view a file we need you to sign our BBFC File Access Visitor Agreement Form, which details the terms and conditions of viewing the files. We also ask visitors to adhere to the BBFC Document Handling Guidelines. Please note, we can only permit persons of 18 years and over to visit us to access our files.

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